soc.history.war.world-war-ii

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:46:50 -0400, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

>Smoking was very popular in the war years. Getting cigarettes to the
>troops was an important priority.

There was a five-pack of cigarettes in every C ration box. These same
cigarettes (the Luckies sometimes had a green box, dating them to 1943
or earlier) showed up in Vietnam in 1964. I started smoking again in
Vietnam because the butts were there for the taking.

A friend in high school (he was taking a postgrad year on the GI Bill
to get into college) recalled how he was wounded in the Battle of the
Bulge. When he was transferred out of the aid station, a medic lit a
cigarette and stuck it between his lips without asking if he wanted
one. He became a smoker then and there.


Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
new from HarperCollins www.FlyingTigersBook.com